Sunday, July 28, 2013

Egg Coffee Anyone?

There are some things we do in style whenever we travel and other things we do the Lonely Planet way. What is life without adventure anyway?

On one trip to Hanoi, we chose to go on a treasure hunt, searching for ca phe trung or egg coffee. Intriguing, isn't it? We thought so, perplexed as well, by the directions we had on hand. Armed with a map, a vague set of directions and a paralyzing fear of being run over by a Vietnamese moped, we were off. The destination was Cafe Pho Co, 11 Hang Gai Road.

First we had to find Hang Gai Road. That was easy. Then we had to look for this, a shop that shared the same address as the coffee shop.

If you look hard enough, you will find this in a collage of shop signs.

Below the sign was an alley. We walked in with butterflies in our tummies, wondering if we were doing the right thing.

And walked some more...

...and ended up here. So, now what?

We ordered our coffee here from a lady who refused to be in the photo. See the menu on the table? She ran away when I pointed the camera. After she left to prepare our order, we climbed the first flight of steps...

...then climbed another set of steps...

...and more...

...and finally this!

...to find this!

I didn't know what to make of it. Half naked men, reading thankfully. Quiet, so never mind that it looked like a dive. We had a great view of the lake.

While sipping our egg coffee. Where's the coffee, you ask? All that froth was as thick as custard. Those teaspoons could stand just like Dairy Queen's Blizzard although I must say I don't think we could have held the cups upside down.

We found another landing on our way down. Charming isn't it?

I was curious to find out what it looked like from the street below and there it was, above the trees. Looked better from down there. What an adventure. Exciting way to spend an afternoon in sweltering Hanoi.